Praying as a child many times a day

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The daily sacrifice, in the Old Testament, looked like this.

“Every day for all time to come, sacrifice on the altar two one-year-old lambs. Sacrifice one of the lambs in the morning and the other in the evening.  – Exodus 29:38-39 GNT

The daily offering grabbed my attention because it is something, as a follower of Christ, that I can practice. My walk with Him is daily and this two times a day offering reminds me how important it is for me to have a quiet time of prayer at least twice a day. The sacrifices of prayer and praise should be morning and evening and they should have a moment where we seek the repentance of our sins remembering the atoning blood and sacrifice of Jesus.

Prayer is not really a solitary exercise, even when I pray alone. I believe it brings me in touch with the body of Christ. Prayer affects the lives of others and how we live together. While Jesus prayed alone look at His work afterwards.

Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. – John 8:1 GNT

There are two truths that Jesus shares that caught my attention.

So Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples. – John 8:31 GNT

My actions are evidence of my walk with Jesus and that walk is indispensable to me praying with faith and hope.

 He who comes from God listens to God’s words. You, however, are not from God, and that is why you will not listen.” – John 8:47 GNT

If I am listening to God, I know I am walking with Him.

Let me break in here with some words of wisdom from Proverbs. When I served in the church, I became aware of women who loved to come and talk about prayer, ask for prayer, looking for times of Bible study etc just in order to be close to men.

My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight. Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. The lips of another man’s wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. – Proverbs 5:1-3 GNT

I hyperlinked the section above because the writer of this piece knows of what he writes. I pray God gives us wisdom as we engage with Him in prayer.

I also want to break in here a comment of my ministry to my Arabic and Farsi speaking Muslims who understand they are servants of God – servant or slave – fully submitted to God. Yet they cannot grasp the Biblical concept that we move from being servants to becomings children of God.

 So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children. – Galatians 4:7 GNT

As His child, my prayer life changes dramatically.

When I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do. – Luther

In prayer, without ceasing

in prayer, without ceasing

The seriousness of praying to God in the Old Testament is more intense than what is described in the New Testament, however I do not believe I can take approaching God less seriously.  I am convicted in my own life when I come before God. I pray to Him as my Father, I pray without ceasing, I have access to His presence and then I casually bow my head before a meal or in church and I find myself not thinking about who I am praying to. That is what I find dangerous – that is not how I want to see myself praying – I should not pray like that. I should pray realizing who I am talking to – with a sense of awe at who God is and the fact that I am now before Him.

Aaron is to wear this robe when he serves as priest. When he comes into my presence in the Holy Place or when he leaves it, the sound of the bells will be heard, and he will not be killed. – Exodus 28:35 GNT

I am encouraged today to guard my heart and my mind against a casual approach to God and not to forget His holiness and His greatness. It is a serious matter that helps me not to forget He is my father and that I am His child. He is also the holy Creator, God of the universe and in my sinful nature I approach His glory and greatness whenever I enter His presence in prayer.

I can do that when I keep Him in my heart.

 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen to my words. Never let them get away from you. Remember them and keep them in your heart. They will give life and health to anyone who understands them. – Proverbs 4:20-22 GNT

It may go against my inherited sinful nature but I need to cultivate a heart that loves wisdom.

“A neglected Bible is the melancholy proof of a heart that is alienated from God. For how can we have a spark of love for him if that Book that is full of his revealed glory is despised?” – Bridges

When I miss the simplicity of this have I fallen into the trap described to the Galatians?

You foolish Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Before your very eyes you had a clear description of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross! – Galatians 3:1 GNT

Is it possible to have fallen into a spell or is Paul being sarcastic? I need to keep myself in the presence of God and His Word in order to not walk in foolishness.

Although I am a doctor of divinity, and have preached Christ and fought His battles for a long time, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to hold fast to the truth. I cannot always shake off Satan. I cannot always apprehend Christ as the Scriptures portray Him. Sometimes the devil distorts Christ to my vision. But thanks be to God, who keeps us in His Word, in faith, and in prayer. – Martin Luther Commentary

 

Luther understood prayer first and foremost as a duty, because God has commanded us to do it. It’s more than a duty, of course, but it is not less. The third commandment not only forbids us from using God’s name in an empty and meaningless way – it also requires us to praise the holy name of God and call upon it all our needs. Prayer is just as clearly and solemnly commanded as having no other gods, not murdering or stealing, and we need to have a greater sense of that than we do. Luther wrote, ‘From fact that prayer is so urgently commanded, we ought to conclude that we should by no means despise our prayers, but rather prize them highly.’ Even more strongly, Luther declared, ‘He who does not pray should know that he is no Christian and does not belong in the kingdom of God.’ – Warren Peel

Time to pray everywhere

time to pray everywhere

Before there was an actual tabernacle there was a courtyard. The court was not all that large – fifty by twenty-five yards. It served as the equivalence of a Church today – enclosed and distinguished from the rest of the world. The pillars represented the stability of the Church and the clean linen the righteousness of saints. It is here that David longed to live and where the people of God would enter in with praise and thanksgiving. However, if you noticed its size, only a few worshippers could come in. Today, because of the gospel, there are no enclosures. God desires that we all pray everywhere and there is room for all who call on the name of Jesus Christ.

“Command the people of Israel to bring you the best olive oil for the lamp, so that it can be lit each evening.Aaron and his sons are to set up the lamp in the Tent of my presence outside the curtain which is in front of the Covenant Box. There in my presence it is to burn from evening until morning. This command is to be kept forever by the Israelites and their descendants.” – Exodus 27:20-21 GNT

The oil represents the gifts and graces of the Spirit which comes from Jesus and without Him our light cannot shine before others. I need to keep the light of my lamp burning always by getting into the Word of God – which itself is a lamp – and share His Word with others. Lamps of the Word are lighted just as often as the incense of prayer and praise are offered.

So I surrender to God with my lips and my thoughts and I am committed to depend on Him – what does that look like? – I cry out to Him to show that dependence.

Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. – Proverbs 3:6 GNT

I place my burdens and my dreams into His hands knowing that He hears me. I have handed the keys of my life to Him knowing that He is able to lead me.

My life verse is Galatians 2:20 —

So that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.

Today I believe it is known as the Exchanged Life. I would take the “I” in my life and then cross it out. It would be my prayer from the time I was sixteen until now. I since learned of others who had similar experiences.

In Dublin Ireland, a group of men had gathered together for a time of prayer, confession, consecration and renewal. Among them were Gratten Guinness, Henry Varley and DL Moody.  During a quiet moment of prayer Varley whispered with humility —

“The world has yet to see what God can dowith & for & through a man who is fully consecrated to Him”

That remark greatly moved Moody. Two days later he sat listening to Charles Spurgeon and Varley’s statement was still echoing in his mind. He had a revelation.

Varley said A man, that means any man. Varley didn’t say that he had to be educated, or brilliant, or anything else! Just a man!

It was then that Moody decided to be one of those men and it was then that he realized that Mr. Spurgeon was not doing the work – it was God. And if God, then He could use the rest of us. From that day forward Moody was never the same and became one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the Church.

Moody, Spurgeon and the apostle Paul discovered something pivotal. They learned about what is known as the Exchanged Life. They exchanged their sin for Christ’s righteousness. They prayed that their “I” would be crossed out and that they may life fully for Jesus.

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, “Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.” Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day. – Luther

 

 

 

Coming for prayer

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Jesus asks  a great question to the man at the pool and it challenges me to remember that questions matter.

Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” – John 5:6 GNT

He may have wanted something else, or Jesus wanted him to speak faith into his own heart or He simply wanted the man to express the desire in his heart. Either way, he proclaimed his need for healing. When people come to me for prayer, they usually tell me why but if not, I need to remember to ask them, “What do you want God to do for you?” It gives me some idea of where to go but I also ask God for discernment and wisdom to know if that is the real need. For example, the woman with the hunched back needed forgiveness first and then Jesus could heal her. So I pray for wisdom and God provides the guidance on how to move forward in prayer.

I pray for wisdom – God has it all and gives it to all who ask for it. I need to passionately pray for it. It is not so much about study and reading it is more about the Spirit’s revelation that provides wisdom. I crave it from my knees. I am challenged to beg for it.

My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do. Listen to what is wise and try to understand it. Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight. Look for it as hard as you would for silver or some hidden treasure. If you do, you will know what it means to fear the Lord and you will succeed in learning about God. It is the Lord who gives wisdom; from him come knowledge and understanding. He provides help and protection for those who are righteous and honest. He protects those who treat others fairly, and guards those who are devoted to him.

If you listen to me, you will know what is right, just, and fair. You will know what you should do.  – Proverbs 2:1-9 GNT

There is no bland request for wisdom but I read there is a desperate, passionate and zealous cry for it. I need to get intense. It is one thing I need to ask for.

What a precious promise.

Martin Luther’s most famous writing on prayer was also in the form of a letter to a friend. Luther was an extraordinary man of prayer himself. Veit Dietrich, one of Luther’s friends, wrote: “There is not a day on which he does not devote at least three hours, the very ones most suitable for work, to prayer. Once I was fortunate to overhear his prayer. Good God, what faith in his words! He speaks with the great reverence of one who speaks to his God, and with the trust and hope of one who speaks with his father and friend.” – Timothy Keller

 

 

 

 

Power of God’s Spirit

power of God's Spirit

I have a choice to pray by the power of God’s Spirit or rely on my ability and effort to carry my prayer time forward.

We all know what it is to feel deadness in prayer, difficulty in prayer, to be tongue-tied, with nothing to say, as it were, having to force ourselves to try. Well, to the extent that is true of us, we are not praying in the Spirit. – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

How many times I have felt that a short prayer just doesn’t cut it. Then I start thinking about how well I can pray. I hate the next step – I trust my perfectly composed, doctrinally correct prayer that was prayed in the right diction, cadence, language, emotion and even volume. Definitely do not like the volume issue.

“Believe me, woman, the time will come when people will not worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; but we Jews know whom we worship, because it is from the Jews that salvation comes. But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God’s Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants. God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.” – John 4:21-24 GNT

What am I doing? I am attempting to imitate the liveliness that the Spirit gives in prayer.

The Spirit is a Spirit of life as well as truth, and the first thing that he always does is to make everything living and vital. And, of course, there is all the difference in the world between the life and the liveliness produced by the Spirit and the kind of artifact, the bright and breezy imitation, produced by people. – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Praying through the power of God’s Spirit is for me to be caught up in the way the Spirit carries the prayer forward. He brings my prayer to life. My prayer is empowered by Him and is carried to the Father in the name of Jesus. I am in the presence of God speaking to God. The Holy Spirit is bringing clarity to my mind, He is moves my heart and gives me freedom of utterance and liberty of expression.

I am definitely not saying that it should feel like revival everytime I pray. I do a lot of groaning too but I know God’s Spirit translates that for me and intercedes on my behalf.

How do I start to engage with the power of God’s Spirit when I am praying? Humility is key – I admit to my inability. Joy is crucial – enjoying the creation of a living communion with God. Offering the promises of God to Him – done with boldness and assurance.

We should start with confession: we must admit our inability to pray as we ought. We must come face to face with our tendency to try to pray on our own. We start with the recognition that prayer is a spiritual activity, and the power of the flesh profits nothing at all. We should feel our dryness and difficulty and confess to him our dullness, lifelessness, and spiritual slowness and sluggishness – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This is not a passive experience – I yield myself to the Spirit – I find myself being lead to expectation and prayerful anticipation as I continue on my time with God.

You are aware of a communion, a sharing, a give-and-take, if I may use such an expression. You are not dragging yourself along; you are not forcing the situation; you are not trying to make conversation with somebody whom you do not know. No, no! The Spirit of adoption in you brings you right into the presence of God, and it is a living act of fellowship and communion, vibrant with life. – Lloyd-Jones 

For me I am sometimes transported – I start praying in my office and suddenly I am in the presence of God.

One of the key differences here between praying in the flesh and praying in the Spirit is that you don’t feel the need to rush to say anything when you pray in the Spirit. The living reality the Spirit creates is the awareness of God’s presence. Experiencing his presence will seem much more important than any petition you are going to make. – Lloyd-Jones

There are moments of boldness when I review the necessary promises I need for the moment. It is the rehearsal of hearing God’s Word stirring up my heart of faith. Even so, I find there is no presumptuous sense of demand.

Do not claim, do not demand, let your requests be made known, let them come from your heart. God will understand. We have no right to demand even revival. Some Christians are tending to do so at the present time. Pray urgently, plead, use all the arguments, use all the promises; but do not demand, do not claim. Never put yourself into the position of saying, ‘If we but do this, then that must happen.’ God is a sovereign Lord, and these things are beyond our understanding. Never let the terminology of claiming or of demanding be used. – Lloyd-Jones 

Lloyd-Jones once said that the quickest way to quench the Spirit is to not obey an impulse to pray.

Anicia Proba was a widow by her early 30s. She was present when Rome was sacked in 410 and had to flee for her life with her granddaughter Demetrias to Africa where they met Augustine. Augustine concludes the letter by asking his friend, “Now what makes this work [of prayer] specially suitable to widows but their bereaved and desolate condition?” Should a widow not “commit her widowhood, so to speak, to her God as her shield in continual and most fervent prayer?” There is every reason to believe she accepted his invitation.